Midnight had long passed, and the night was deep.
In the courtyard next to the First Medicinal Garden—the largest one guarded by Li Song—the lights blazed bright.
"How is it? Did you find the thief?" Li Song looked at the new arrival.
The man was named Jiang Pingchuan, a Li Family’s Tributor. He was in charge of the hidden sentries in the Medicinal Gardens, overseeing the various locations and assisting Li Song in managing them.
He shook his head. "General Manager, we have dispatched more men to search that area. However, neither the sentries stationed there nor the reinforcements have found any suspicious traces."
Li Song frowned. "With our patrol network, we can cover more than half of the escape routes. What kind of ability does this thief have to slip away right under our noses? Could he still be hiding in the mountains?"
As an important asset to the family, the Medicinal Garden couldn’t possibly rely only on the guards in the open. The omnipresent hidden sentries stationed around the clock were the final line of defense. Yet, this line of defense had actually failed.
Jiang Pingchuan’s tone was heavy. "Neither his entry nor his exit alerted the hidden sentries. If he has truly left without a trace, it means there’s a loophole in the Medicinal Garden’s defense system."
This was a serious problem. If they failed to catch him this first time, there would inevitably be a second and third time.
Li Song felt weighed down by his thoughts. He continued to ponder the matter; it had to be resolved. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was fishy.
If the thief was very strong, Chen Yuan definitely wouldn’t have the strength to contend with him. He would have been killed or severely injured. Could it be that the thief intentionally held back, not wanting to push things to the extreme? But if it was truly an expert at the Marrow-refining stage or even a master of Projected Force, they wouldn’t stoop to such petty theft for a mere few dozen taels of silver.
Just as he was thinking, footsteps approached.
A servant came to report, "General Manager, the guard Chen Yuan requests an audience. He says he has something to report."
Li Song wondered, "Chen Yuan? Why hasn’t he gone home yet? What is he doing here? Could there be a missed clue?"
"Let him in," Li Song said in a deep voice.
Chen Yuan walked in carrying a sack on his shoulder. He first bowed and greeted, "General Manager Li." Then, his gaze swept over Jiang Pingchuan beside him. He said, looking slightly troubled, "General Manager Li, this matter concerns clues about the thief who stole the precious herbs. I fear retaliation and do not wish for too many people to know about it."
Jiang Pingchuan snorted coldly, his sharp gaze fixed on Chen Yuan. "What? You doubt me, kid? If you can really provide a clue, I’d reward you before you even know it!"
Li Song waved his hand and said mildly, "It’s fine. This is the Medicinal Garden’s deputy general manager, Tributor Jiang Pingchuan. Just tell us whatever clues you have."
Chen Yuan thought, "Damn, the deputy general manager? Why didn’t you say so earlier?"
He smiled awkwardly. "Greetings, Tributor Jiang. Forgive my poor eyesight."
Jiang Pingchuan said impatiently, "Alright, cut the nonsense. If you have something to say, spit it out." He usually handled the hidden sentries, so it was normal that Chen Yuan hadn’t met him. He wouldn’t hold such a trivial matter against the kid.
Chen Yuan grunted in acknowledgment. He untied the sack and pulled it off, revealing the unconscious Zhang Hong to the two men. He cupped his hands slightly and said solemnly, "General Managers, I have apprehended and brought back the thief, Zhang Hong."
Instantly, Li Song’s gaze sharpened. He asked in a deep voice, "Chen Yuan, you claim Zhang Hong is the thief. Do you have any evidence?"
Jiang Pingchuan’s voice grew even colder. "Kid, according to what you said earlier, it was this Zhang Hong who fought off the thief. Now you’re saying he is the thief? Aren’t you contradicting yourself and spouting nonsense?"
Chen Yuan smiled and explained, "It’s true that Zhang Hong supposedly fought off the thief, but that was just an act to deceive us. The one who actually stole the precious herbs was Huang Yongbo, who is currently on duty at the Sixth Medicinal Garden."
He then recounted the entire process of how he discovered the anomaly, trailed Zhang Hong, and finally captured him.
"General Managers, the most urgent task right now is to apprehend Huang Yongbo for interrogation," Chen Yuan concluded. "Furthermore, we must recover the precious herbs as soon as possible while it’s still late at night and difficult to transfer the stolen goods."
After listening to Chen Yuan’s well-founded analysis and seeing that he had genuinely rooted out the thief, Li Song and Jiang Pingchuan looked at him in a completely different light, their eyes filled with appreciation. He could truly be described as bold yet meticulous.
However, now was not the time for idle chatter. Li Song’s tone hardened as he immediately issued an order. "Chen Yuan, lead the way immediately. Go with Tributor Jiang to the place where Zhang Hong planned to fence the stolen goods and recover the precious herbs."
Based on Chen Yuan’s description, that place was most likely an underground black market, backed by a complex web of factions. But trying to embezzle the Li Family’s precious herbs wouldn’t be that easy!
"Understood," Chen Yuan accepted the order and set off. This time, he wasn’t alone. He had Tributor Jiang and a group of skilled experts backing him up.
Meanwhile, Li Song personally took action, directly apprehending Huang Yongbo, who was leisurely napping in a chair.
At first, Huang Yongbo remained stubborn, insisting that he hadn’t done anything and was wrongfully accused. But when he saw Zhang Hong laid out cold on the ground, the color drained from his face instantly. He fell to his knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy. Crying bitterly, he claimed that Zhang Hong had coerced him into doing it.
Naturally, Li Song didn’t buy it. With a splash of cold water, he jolted Zhang Hong awake and subjected them both to a furious interrogation. To think they dared to pull such a stunt right under his nose—and almost got away with it, too. It was a blatant display of disrespect, practically a slap to his face!
On the other side, Jiang Pingchuan, led by Chen Yuan, began the raid on the black market stronghold. Not only did they recover all the stolen precious herbs, but they also forced the fence to cough up quite a few extra goods in the process. However, they didn’t push things to the absolute extreme. After all, they still had to leave some face for the figures backing the black market.
Jiang Pingchuan was in a very good mood. Upon coming out, he patted Chen Yuan heavily on the shoulder and laughed. "Chen Yuan, right? You’re really something, kid. To spot the problem from such tiny details and root out these two ungrateful traitors—you will definitely be handsomely rewarded when this is all over."
Chen Yuan replied modestly, "You praise me too much, General Manager Jiang. It was merely luck. Besides, serving the Li Family is my duty. Rooting them out is just making up for my negligence; I wouldn’t dare claim credit."
Jiang Pingchuan smiled. "Haha, don’t be so modest, kid. General Manager Li and I will be the judge of whether you have merit or not.
"Alright, you must be tired after tossing about for half the night. Go back and rest up. Come to the Medicinal Garden early tomorrow."
"Thank you, General Manager Jiang. I shall take my leave first." Chen Yuan cupped his hands in farewell.
He was genuinely a bit tired. He only wanted to lay low and develop steadily, but that damn Zhang Hong just had to stir up so much trouble.
Chen Yuan sighed. Laying low easily was nothing but a lie. When roaming the martial world, one rarely had control over their own fate.
The next day, the autumn wind rustled coldly, sending fallen leaves fluttering through the air. In the blink of an eye, winter was approaching.
Remembering Jiang Pingchuan’s instructions, Chen Yuan hurried toward the Li Family’s Medicinal Garden on Funiu Mountain after finishing his breakfast at the Huo Courtyard. Just as he approached the First Medicinal Garden, he spotted a new "scarecrow" outside the iron fence. It was played by Zhang Hong, looking utterly miserable.
Chen Yuan sighed with emotion inwardly. He could only say that since one chose this path, they had to pay the price for their actions. As for the matter of killing, the Li Family executing a traitorous parasite to serve as a warning was something the Government Office wouldn’t bother meddling in at all.
After finding someone to announce his arrival, Chen Yuan was directly led to the courtyard where Li Song resided and told to wait in the guest hall.
Not long after, Li Song and Jiang Pingchuan walked in, wearing smiles on their faces.
Chen Yuan hurriedly stood up. "Greetings, General Manager Li, Tributor Jiang."
Li Song smiled and waved a hand. "Sit. Chen, your contribution in rooting out the traitors so quickly this time cannot go unnoticed. Tell me, what kind of reward do you want?"
Evidently, making a "scarecrow" had significantly improved his mood.
Chen Yuan bowed and said, "Rooting out the thieves was my duty. I am honored by your favor, General Manager. As for the reward, I leave it entirely up to your discretion."
Looking at Chen Yuan, Li Song grew increasingly satisfied. He was smart, capable, and talented. He didn’t claim credit, wasn’t rigid, and carried himself neither haughtily nor humbly. Most importantly, he was clean and intensely loyal. Last night, Li Song had specifically checked Zhang Hong’s belongings and found that not a single item was missing. This was truly rare.
Thus, he said, "Alright, then I shall make the decision. For your meritorious service in guarding the Medicinal Garden and rooting out the traitors, you are rewarded with twenty taels of silver and one Bone Nourishing Pill. Are you willing to accept?"
Since the precious herbs had been recovered, the Bone Nourishing Pill was essentially a freebie snagged from the black market. It had no other use for him, so he might as well use it to nurture Chen Yuan and help him break through the bone refinement stage earlier. Otherwise, without an improvement in strength, Li Song’s desire to promote him would be nothing but an empty wish.